PROTEST SPOTLIGHTS SECRET POLICE CONFERENCE
By Jane Cutter - Seattle
Hundreds of activists converged to protest the Law Enforcement Intelli
gence Unit (LEIU) annual conference in Seattle on June 2-6. Police
attacked the permitted demonstration, arresting 12 and shooting rubber
bullets at protesters.
LEIU is an allegedly private organization of police agencies that share
"intelligence" information. They have been in business since the 1950s
when they gathered information on leftists and those labeled "communist
sympathizers."
Today, the LEIU has garnered additional corporate support for its spying
in the post 9/11 era of the "war on terrorism."
Numerous businesses sponsored the LEIU conference--including Starbucks
and Pemco Insurance.
The protest was sponsored by the satirically named "LEIU Welcoming
Commit tee," which included Not In Our Name, the International Action
Center, American Friends Service Committee and many other groups.
The June 2 demonstration started with a rally at Westlake Center and
marched to the nearby Red Lion Inn--the site of the LEIU conference.
At the Inn, Seattle police began to harass and encircle demonstrators.
It was there that police arrested 12 activists and shot at protesters
with rubber bullets. Police dumped a disabled protester out of his
wheelchair.
http://www.workers.org/